


What Was (And What Could Have Been)

by Tortellini



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Tragedy, Angst with a Happy Ending, Based on a Tumblr Post, Broken Families, Comfort/Angst, Families of Choice, Family, Family Feels, Gen, Heavy Angst, Inspired By Tumblr, Light Angst, Minor Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, POV Remus Lupin, Protective Remus Lupin, Remus Lupin Needs a Hug, Sad, Sad Ending, Tragedy, Trains, Uncle-Nephew Relationship, Unconventional Families, Wordcount: 100-500
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2019-02-09 21:15:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12896973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tortellini/pseuds/Tortellini
Summary: On a train, Remus Lupin sees a little boy with wide eyes and scars not unlike his own. In a different life, he could've been his uncle; now Harry doesn't even know him.Oneshot/drabble





	What Was (And What Could Have Been)

The train is dark right now; the windowpane that he's been leaning on for the past hour is cold and streaked with rain. Remus Lupin wonders if there's a mark on his forehead. Then he wonders if it'd even make a difference, what with how his face actually is. His mouth is dry. And when he sits up straight in the seat of the train, he finally catches his breath. 

The boy across from him is a waif: pale and peaky, with a mop of dark curls and the widest eyes he's ever seen in his life. Immediately Remus recognizes him. It's unmistakable. Not by Harry Potter's scar though, but by his eyes. Their his mother Lily's. 

But even if Harry isn't a stranger to him, Remus is a stranger to Harry. That's what hurts the most. 

In a different life maybe, a different time, he'd have been "Uncle Remus". Harry could've grown up knowing him. Hell, he could've grown up knowing his own parents. Remus could've stopped by Sundays for dinner. He could've been together with Sirius Black--and nothing bad would've happened with Sirius and the law either. The two of them could've came over and babysat Harry. They all could've been a family. 

Remus thinks of all of this as he stares back at the boy. The boy who merely sees him as a stranger. 

And Remus Lupin's heart breaks all over again.


End file.
